One Step Closer
by T'Ley
Summary: A Twilight story. Alice/Jasper pairing. Alice's thoughts as she waits for Jasper in the diner in Philadelphia. Not a songfic per say, the lyrics aren't reprinted, but inspired by the Christina Perri song 'A Thousand Years'.


Rating: PG (just to be safe)

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, except when they are. The settings and locations are not mine, except when they are. The plots, conflicts, and resolutions ARE mine, except when they're not.

Reviews/Feedback: CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is always welcome. Any suggestions you may have on how to make my story better will be greatly appreciated.

If vampire hearts could still beat, Alice was certain that hers would be pounding right now. As it was she could barely contain her excitement. Twenty eight years, it had been twenty eight years since she'd seen her first vision of HIM, twenty eight years that she'd been waiting for him. In some ways it might as well have been a lifetime.

Alice had no memories of her human life. For her life had begun the moment she'd gained awareness after being transformed into a vampire. She'd been alone then. There'd been no one to instruct her in how their kind lived, no one to help her through the adjustment period that accompanied her newborn years. With no past to influence her and no creator to guide her Alice had had nowhere else to turn but to her visions, visions of the future. It was these visions that had shown her a way of life that didn't require the endless slaughter of humans for food. And it was these visions that had led her to Jasper.

Jasper, just thinking of him filled Alice with joy, with hope. He had been her first vision. It was his face in her mind that had comforted Alice through her decades of loneliness. And today they would meet, face to face for the first time. Alice smiled as she thought how her life would be forever changed after this day. She wondered if this was how human women felt on their wedding day. Not that she and Jasper would actually be getting married – not today, perhaps not ever. Alice knew it would take time for Jasper to return the love she already felt for him. Even once he did, vampires rarely bothered with the formalities of a wedding ceremony. The bloodlust that plagued most of their kind made it difficult to be in close quarters with a human officiant for starters. Then there was the pesky issue of vampire immortality. Leaving what humans would later call a 'paper trail' was generally a bad idea when someone didn't age. A marriage license, left moldering away in some courthouse records room, certainly qualified as the type of written record that could expose a vampire's immortal nature.

Alice sighed to herself, thinking for a moment of what she couldn't have, but she brightened up again almost immediately. As nice as it would be to have a formal wedding, to walk down the aisle in her dream dress and have Jasper put a ring on her finger, it wasn't really necessary. She would have Jasper's love, and that would be enough. Alice smoothed away a wrinkle in her skirt that would have been invisible to human eyes. Jasper should be here any minute, and Alice wanted everything to be perfect. She'd chosen this outfit especially for the occasion. The color was particularly flattering on her. She hoped that Jasper liked it.

A troubling thought suddenly flashed through Alice's mind. What if he didn't like it? What if he didn't like HER? Alice had been seeing Jasper's future for years now, so she knew some of his background. She knew he'd lived in an environment where staying alive meant trusting no one. What if she couldn't get him to listen to her? What if he disappeared back out the door before she had a chance to explain? Worse still, what if he did hear her out and then just walked away?

The thought of losing Jasper, of being alone for the rest of eternity, sent an icy chill through Alice but she quickly got a hold of herself. She'd seen this encounter play out a thousand different ways in her visions. She knew what would work, and more importantly what wouldn't.

The bell mounted above the door jangled as someone stepped into the diner. Alice looked up and there he was, standing in the doorway. Jasper. His shoulders were hunched, his eyes downcast. He looked so…so weary and…lost. Seeing him like this, the last of the worries that had gripped Alice a moment ago evaporated. She could see, up close, how Jasper's old way of life had nearly broken him. He needed her, needed the hope that she could give him. Since that first vision Alice had always felt, had always known that she needed Jasper in her life. But now she finally grasped the fact that he needed her just as much.

Jasper looked up and met Alice's gaze, his eyes wary and guarded. He knew what she was. Alice had seen his muscles tense when he caught her scent. She had expected this, had been planning how best to approach him. But now that Jasper was finally here all of Alice's careful strategizing faded to the back of her mind, as her emotions overwhelmed her. The feeling of pure joy she experienced in that moment was so great, Alice felt as if her body could barely contain it. She couldn't have kept the smile off her face even if she wanted to.

Moving at human speed, Alice got up from her seat and began closing the distance between her and Jasper. Jasper still seemed wary, but another emotion was now playing across his face. He looked puzzled, tipping his head slightly to one side as he watched her. From Alice's perspective, crossing the room seemed to both take too long and to take no time at all. She stopped just in front of Jasper, her eyes shining with happiness, her smile ever-present.

By then Jasper's puzzled expression had given way to something else. There was a look of wonder in his eyes, as if he was in the presence of something that defied all rational explanation.

Alice felt as if her entire vampire existence had been leading up to this moment. "You've kept me waiting a long time," she said.


End file.
